This invention relates in general to the construction of rail vehicles and in particular to a new and useful freight car which includes a gantry arranged between two upright end walls over a floor and a closure hood which is engageable over the gantry and one end wall and may be slid along the rails.
The invention relates particularly to a freight car with end walls and a fixed central gantry, a substantially flat bottom and hold covering hoods which in the closed position lie on one plane and slide one over the other through rollers running on rails, which hoods are divided at the top, are provided with joints and an elastic covering, and can be raised and pivoted by means of an actuating system for displacement from their closed position into a sliding position.
Freight cars are known where the loading area is covered by gantry type hoods slidable one into the other in telescope fashion. These freight cars, the loading area of which can be cleared by sections for easy access from the sides and from above, serve predominantly for transport of heavy freight (e.g. large rolls of sheet metal) which is secured on the loading area. Such cars are less suitable for transporting mixed cargo, as it may become difficult to open the hoods if the freight shifts. Also there is the disadvantage that in view of the sliding of the smallest hood the entire loading space is restricted in accordance with the dimensions of this hood.
Further, freight cars with fixed end walls are known whose loading area is covered with hoods sliding on rollers, at least one of the hoods having wall and roof sections which can be released so as to be able to push one hood over another hood in longitudinal direction of the vehicle body. According to DT-PS No. 923,669, for example, a closed vehicle body of the above described kind is known. In such a vehicle body, a superstructure covering the loading area comprises at least two hoods aligned side by side in closing position, which hoods are supported by means of rollers and can be telescoped for easier loading and unloading in such a way that, depending on the sliding direction of these hoods, the left or the right half of the loading area can be cleared entirely. The hoods of this known design are divided lengthwise at the top, the two halves of each hood being connected together by means of joints. In this known design, separate, parallel rails on which the hoods can slide are provided for the rollers of each hood.
A disadvantage of this known design is, for one thing, the deficient clamp connection of the hoods to the car box in a closed position of the hoods, so that the longitudinal forces deriving from the freight when the car moves must be fully absorbed as transverse forces by the end walls. For another thing, in the design of the hood sliding system it is diadvantageous that several rails are arranged parallel to each other and that at least one hood must be pushed under another hood for opening, so that when cargo applies against a hood, difficulties in opening this hood may arise.
From German OS No. 2 910 799 a rail vehicle with releasable and slidable hoods is further known where the hoods may be designed at the top with a strip of flexible material, around which the two hood halves formed by the provision of the strip can be swiveled relative to each other in a predetermined zone. For the displacement of these hoods at least two support rails for two or more hoods are provided in the nearer zone of a long side of the loading floor in a plane lying under the loading area thereof. To displace the hoods, they are lifted and pivoted out of their closing position by means of an actuating device and are pushed over the hood present in a closing position. To clear the second half of the loading space, now both hoods jointly must be pushed over the first previously opened half of the loading space.
This known design also has the disadvantage of insufficient clamping of the hoods to the vehicle body in a closed position, as well as the complicated design of the actuating system of the individual hoods, which requires several rails on each long side of the car and necessitates in part a displacement of several hoods one over the other. Another disadvantage of this design is that contactless displacement of the hoods is not ensured, because there are no joints.
From EP No. 0 011 195 a freight car is known which has a roof and lateral parts, each containing at least two movable wall portions. These wall portions are arranged, in closed position, in a common plane and are pivotable by means of an actuating system, e.g. rotatably mounted guides, into a sliding plane lying before the common closure plane and are retained in this plane displaceable in a lengthwise direction of the vehicle. The wall portions are connected with roof sections which extend along a wall portion and as a whole form the vehicle roof. The roof sections have a position which permits longitudinal sliding when the wall portions are in a sliding plane.
A disadvantage of this previously described design is the multi-joint system of each hood, involving disadvantages of principle with regard to the slackness of the individual hoods in closed position and when being displaced. For this reason no further comment about this design is made here.